Damien at the Speed of Life – DATSOL

I started “blog hopping” this afternoon and there were so many loading and spelling issues I just had to stop. The great thing about blogs and self-publishing is that I have access to every Tom, Dick, and Jane out there writing content. That is also the not-so-great thing. Because anyone can publish a blog and get it “out there” there are some real eyesores that I have to bellyache, I hope I don’t offend anyone:

1. Homonyms misspelled: to=preposition too=Modifier of degree two=2 / there=place their=possessive they’re=contraction they are You/You’re: Your is possessive. “Is that your hat?” You’re is a contraction for you are. “You’re wrong.” Then/Than: “Then you’d like to go over this later rather than right now.” Its/It’s: Again, possession is the name of the game when it comes to its.
2. Too much on sidebar=long load times. Do you really need all that stuff? Take inventory and dump the stuff not helping you achieve your goals.
3. A completely untouched free theme. Come on now, can’t you at least put a feedburner brick in there to make it your own? How will we know it’s not spam? Take a little time to read a tutorial on Wordpress, html, php, or tweaking themes in general.
4. Less than 60 word posts. Why waste my time?
5. Poorly designed. Columns overlap etc. Take your writing serious enough to put it in a nicely structured theme.
6. Cussing. I just don’t like it. I think I have one cuss-word in my blogs and it’s like damn or something. Dooce can bite me if she doesn’t like it. I’m me, she’s … well, her.
7. Flaunted, unbridled, giddiness. Ever catch a load of this in your travels and assume you accidentally became a member or something you weren’t invited to read?
8. I apologize in advance for this one but I just have to say it because it bothers me in an irrational way: When I just did a paid OPP and come to find the same person did it with 1/2 the quality and probably got approved and paid the same as me who spent a long time. (I’m a grouch huh?)
9. Angry posts with no real point.
10. and finally … my last gripe about blogs out there is: pop-up-blog-newsletter-subscriptions (esp. seo ones) !!!!
11. Okay, I lied … one last gripe: Bloggers in Southern California who have motorcycle accidents and don’t call motorcycle accident lawyers Los Angeles. Why not use the best? ;)

Got any gripes about blogs these days?

The title is a line from “O Holy Night,” my favorite Christmas song. I thought it a fitting way to start looking at my yearly blog stats which I am so very thankful for this Christmas.  Merry Christmas if you are one of the first readers!

I’ve learned more each day as this past year has whizzed by. I’ve learned how to be better dad, to meet my goals more efficiently at work, and last but not least: I’ve learned key strategies to be a better blogger. As I sat down to outline this post as I always do, I realized I could never fit all I’ve learned about blogging in one post. Better yet, I decided to craft it into a series of post. If you tune in each day until New Years Day 2009 (or when I run out of ideas) you will get all my blog tips, free of charge. If you are tuning in after the series is finished, I hope you find the set to be helpful to you in creating, maintaining, and enjoying a valuable blog.

Looking Back

Last year, I embarked upon a blog journey of the acronym C.A.N. The letters stood for the three goals I measured each month:

Circulation (inbound links)
Analytics (visitors)
Net (Income)

I made goals each month and reported them to you. You can find the last several months C.A.N. results here. This was a very efficient way to measure my own progress. Here is a chart showing how my three blogs Fared in traffic the past 4 months:

I think the smartest thing I have done this past year is to monitor progress toward goals through my monthly CAN post on my personal blog. My hope is that my lower two blogs will rise in their analytics and come close to my psych blog.

Moving Forward

Since this date last year and now, 12-24-08, I’ve earned a total of: $2,137 blogging. If you are interested how I made that chunk of change, here are the sources, in order of highest earnings:

Pay Per Post
PayU2Blog

Review Me
Buy Blog Reviews
Private Ads (Random people who’ve asked to advertise on my blog)
Text Link Ads

I made the majority of this past year’s income when my highest PR was a 4/10. A few months ago, Google reduced me to a 1/10 and much of my opportunities to make money disappeared. This is the irony of Google’s PageRank system: They penalize you for posting sponsored posts and yet the ones who sponsor you pull away when Google penalizes you. There is a solution but it is quite cumbersome: add the tag rel=”nofollow” to any paid link. I’ve been diligent at doing this, not only with paid links but also with links that are irrelvant. I have heard this can affect PageRank as well.

What’s an honest blogger to do?

The secret then, to what I hope is my future success is to always be relevant when linking (ie; no blogrolls, random “link love” posts), always write valuable posts with excellent content (paid or not), rel=”nofollow” ads and sponsored posts when the buyer allows it (note: does all nofollow), and measure my progress toward goals on my personal blog. Finally, as I said earlier, I hope to bring the analytics of my teaching blog and this blog, my personal blog, up to the region on the chart where the psych blog is. If I pull that off in 2009, I will feel I’ve truly accomplished something.

I have many other strategies I am playing with to hopefully put a plasma big screen on the tv stand. In future posts in this series I will discuss social media and networking along with personal habits like scheduling times to post and future time stamping posts. I’ll also be taking YOUR QUESTIONS.  I hope you’ll “tune in.”

Blog Bloke left a comment to my recent post 50 Blogging Tips that Deliver.  It was great and I wanted to make a whole new post about his valuable responses.  My original tips are numbered, then his comments are below that and finally my responses are in bold:

1. “Find your “niche” and become a slave to it.”

And also be sure to not choose a niche that is already saturated ;-)

Yes but that is an “advanced” concept.  I am talking to people who sit usually down to blog with zero focus.  Whether you write about a narrow focus like wakeboarding or the broadest like SEO/MMOL you are better off having a niche focus than not.  In the next class ;) your point would be a good one.

2. “Make posts over 100 words, around 200 words and usually not more than 400 words.”

Of course it depends on the type of post you are writing. If you write detailed tutorials like I do then it’s impossible to write a short post. (Btw isn’t this post over 400 words? :-)

Yes it is by absolute word count but if you count my sentences where I elaborate there are only about half of that.  In your lengthy tutorials it is likely the same situation.  I am speaking to writers who want to describe how much their day sucked etc.  If I want a “thesis” on someone’s day, I’ll listen to my wife.  LOL  PLEASE OUT THERE keep it to 200-400 words.  Of course there are always exceptions that work.  This is a guideline I have learned through time.

3. “Regularly post.”

I’ve hardly posted lately and my traffic is up more than 500%. So writing every day isn’t necessarily going to bring you good results. I would say that writing quality posts that are SEO optimized is far more important than quantity.

I call those “authority posts.”  I’ve also seen them referred to as “pillar posts.”  If you have enough of those, what you say is true.  For example, my “Crazy Quotes” page has a higher rating than my actual blog domain.  Still, if you want to gather followers/readers/contacts, posting regularly is a must.  After a few years maybe not so much though.

4. “Pick a simple theme and then test, test, test.”

Although I agree with the testing part (does it ever end) a “simple” theme isn’t always your best choice if you have a lot of content like I do. A nice looking site also doesn’t hurt to attract repeat visitors.

The Peter Principle says that every person will rise to their own level of incompetence.  I want to stay where I am competent.  To a beginner “simple” may mean using the Wordpress default.  To you or I it may mean using Ajax or not … just as an example.  I think simple was the wrong word choice so thanks for clarifying that.

5. “Here today, gone tomorrow: remember your post is not a bestseller in process. Write it and move on.”

Sometimes when we write a post we forget to optimize it for the SERPS. I’m always going back to my better posts and tweaking them for optimum performance. Like I said earlier good quality posts will bring you more traffic over the long term.

I only optimize my favorite posts.  The other ones get picked up anyway whether I liked them or not.  Can I get an AMEN?  No ryhme or reason sometimes.  I go back and tweak popular posts all the time, a very fruitful practice!

6. “Have a minimal sidebar. Most the “flair” out there is so distracting and lame.”

Agreed, too many bloggers have useless widgets such as showing what the weather is in your home town. But the sidebar/footer is a useful place to put your best posts, reader’s comments etc. So don’t neglect it.

Great thought about the sidebar.  Getting readers access to back posts is a great use of a sidebar!  Plus a little advertising as long as it is not too gaudy.

Hope that helps and cheers!

It helped very much, thanks for taking the time to read and comment.  Keep in touch!

If you want to set yourself apart as a blogger, you have to do a few things differently. These tips are the best advice I have to offer.  They are the result of two years of intensive blogging.  I welcome feedback as comments or questions.

1. Be mentored: offer someone doughnuts!
2. Monitor inbound links.
3. Don’t link out more than you have inbound links.
4. Write a a dynamite “ABOUT” page for your blog.
5. Have a “Best of” page.
6. Guest blog out there.
7. Host guest bloggers on your blog.
8. Write reviews with proper references (ie; IMDB for movies)
9. Optimize use of categories.
10. TAG by idea, not by words used.
11. Write great excerpts, summaries, and introductions.
12. Use search words in your title.
13. Pick a simple theme and then test, test, test.
14. Paragraphs no longer than 10 sentences.
15. Here today, gone tomorrow: remember your post is not a bestseller in process.  Write it and move on.
16. Submit your best stuff to social media.  Even better, ask your friends to.
17. NOFOLLOW when you should NOFOLLOW.
18. Outline your post.  Don’t “freewrite.”
19. Use pictures.
20. Get a picture hosting and posting routine you like.
21. Use Google Reader.  Leave comments.
22. Have a minimal sidebar.  Most the “flair” out there is so distracting and lame.
23. Make subheadings in BOLD.
24. Don’t “create” topics, wait for them to come to you.  be ready with a yellow pad or tape recorder.
25. Use the future posts timestamp feature of WordPress to get more than one post started in one sitting.
26. Schedule deadlines to be mailed to you through Google Calendar (No, I don’t work for Google … wish tho ;) )
27. Find your “niche” and become a slave to it.
28. Value SEO and learn things about it.
29. Set goals.
30. Monitor results of goals.
31. Spell check and correct basic grammar.  Try Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style.”
32. Make posts over 100 words, around 200 words and usually not more than 400 words.
33. Get away!  Time off captures ideas.
34. Go to the Library for inspiration.
35. Use RANK then do not pay any attention to it.
36. Value real readers not empty “click-through” traffic.
37. Know your stats.
38. Be entertaining.
39. Regularly post.
40. Be accessible as an author.
41. Blogging is not instant gratification.
42. Spend most your time working on your own blog and smaller amounts commenting and blog hopping.
43. Adjust as necessary, be flexible.
44. Don’t look for advertisers, rather look to be the type of blog that would have advertisers.
45. Check out addons and plugins available to you.
46. Take an official photo.
47. Be a brand.
48. Ask for feedback
49. Put ideas in your blog as “drafts” for rainy days.
50. Measure success on your own terms.

Follow these tips and your blog travels will be stronger than a Samsonite.

To keep track of the several income sources these blogs now have I like to do little progress reports sometimes around mid-month.  I know a lot of new bloggers out there reading could benefit by these posts, plus they help me stay focused on the important stuff to reach my monthly goals.  I want to give a shout out to my newest bloggy buddy Justin over at DragonBlogger.com He is really doing an impressive job toward his goals in a short time of his blog being live.  Another nod goes out to Katelynjane who has kept a really great blog for a while and lately she has achieved more of her goals than ever.  Another blogger I am excited to network with is AllRileyedUp.com she just migrated from a Wordpress.com and so far it’s been an exciting transition to watch. I am honored to be able to assist with and enjoy the growth of these three content-filled up-and-coming blogs.

Okay, back to my 3 blogs: If you’re new to these posts, you can read an explanation of my CAN blog rating system here.  The full post of September 2008’s goals I reference in this post is here.  This is a mid-month “check-in” on their progress toward monthly goals.

PFTFF

C – 6/20 incoming links
http://confidentwriting.com/2008/09/writing-advice-from-the-blogosphere/
http://www.itmightbelove.com/2008/09/02/chores-and-kisses/
http://dereksemmler.com/2008/09/08/speedlinking-sweetness/
http://www.dragonblogger.com/2008/09/blog-victim-stolen-content/ http://catatonickid.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/drumroll-please/
http://www.dragonblogger.com/2008/09/adding-google-analytics-wordpress-blog/

A  – 3,117/4000 visitors Wow! Some Stumbleupon spikes this month have helped.

N – $60/$400

I’ve got a ways to go with circulation and net.  Analytics is very well off already.  Nice to have something I can rest on.

DATSOL

C – 4/10 incoming links.

A  -  242/1140 visitors

N  -  $7/$50

DLP

C  – 2/3 incoming Links

A  – 163/500

N  – $9.63/$40

This are the “halfway mark” results Watch how I do in the rest of September. 

For a long time I’ve wanted a static IM chatbox in my sidebar and today I finally chose one. I tested every one on this list of 10 and found MeeboMe to be the best hands down. It has great features, good looks, and best of all it is integration with the major IM clients. I am a Yahoo! Messenger user myself and the transfer was seamless.

There are many other ways to interact in real time with your visitors besides chat. I also have researched a few ways to properly get “Asides” into my sidebar. I settled on the Twitter Tools Plugin by Alex King. Below is the code I use for that. In the event that Twitter goes under (which people in the industry have speculated might happen) I also have a dormant backup plan to use the Sideblog plugin for wordpress. You can see that option commented out below. I like this option but they stay as posts which can cause future feed and spidering issues. What you see below is from my sidebar directly if you want to grab the idea and make it your own:

I think the future of blogging and web 2.0 is the connections one makes through social media. After that, interaction with the blog owner will be a huge perk for people seeking knowledge and connections in the blogosphere.

A quick post-note: When I write “asides” I recognize that a 20-something created the term. That should be a charge for Matt Mullenwegg knowing he made that a blogging word. Of course, it isn’t quite as cool as how William Shakespeare first coined the term “lonely,” but it ranks up there pretty close ;) Good job Matt.

I’ve just been out for my monthly surf of everybody on my blogroll and here are my cool findings:

• Dunn gives us a concise announcement concerning the new Entrebar.
• Neurophilosophy has written a cool little article with an awesome picture about how the brain relates to magic.
• M gives us a short but very emotional statement of what a family pet meant.
• Jacob Share announces a contest for $150 cash. You just need to guestblog for him and you could win!
• Derek reflects on a blogging milestone discussing what counts for him in blogging.
• This one you just really should read … write better, communicate better … start by reading this.
• Change Therapy gives us a great little post on how to get out of a cult and how to frame them psychologically.
• Catatonic Kid does a great job at describing in real time a panic attack.
• And, Michael Kwan raises the excellent question of whether a freelancer could go back to work “for the man” again.
• As for me, I posted a couple articles I especially liked last week: Paradigm Shifts and Las Vegas Psychology

1. Get out the yellow pad and a pencil.
2. Analyze and rate the important progress (Will vary. For me, the C.A.N. stuff)
3. Swim to get ideas for engaging prose.
4. Walk.
5. Work out. (I myself don’t do this but it is a good idea)
6. Roll around on the floor with your kids (or dog).
7. Think about their blogs’ niches like mine on education.
8. Surprise your wife with breakfast (lunch … dinner) in bed.
9. Watch the news for blog ideas.
10. Call friends or relatives for blog ideas (but keep the confidential; stuff confidential). ;)

Care to add to this list? I sure would appreciate it! My internet goes down from time to time and I need all the help I can get.